Complex Image
by xxxChaoticHarmonyxxx
Summary: We didn't know what we were getting into until it was too late...
1. Chapter 1

"Come on, Sora!" Kairi shouted, shaking his shoulders roughly as he continued to snooze at his desk. "Class is over! It's time to go home!"

Sora was face down on his desk, his arms hiding his face and his wildly spiked light brown hair drooped downward. Kairi, the maroon-haired girl standing over him, placed her hands on her hips and sighed in frustration. Looking around her, there were only a few other students left in the class as it had ended five minutes ago. She lifted her right arm and glanced at her wrist watch. Riku was surely out of his class by now.

"Is he asleep again?"

Kairi looked up and saw a familiar silver-haired teen standing in the door to the classroom. She smiled ruefully. "Speak of the devil," she brushed off the front of her blue uniform skirt. "I'm glad to see you, Riku. Sora's knocked out and we've got to drop some stuff off at the library."

Riku, the teen in question, shrugged his shoulders and held up the massive science book in his left hand. He hovered over Sora's desk, listening for a moment to hear the boy's loud snoring. With a sigh, Riku dropped the textbook with a _thud _on the free space on Sora's desk, causing the boy to fly out of his seat and shout.

"Hey!" Sora shouted, his face red from embarrassment. "What was that for?"

Kairi laughed while Sora collected himself. "You fell asleep at the end of Professor Aerith's lecture again. You wouldn't wake up so Riku had to…surprise you."

The spiky haired youth finally calmed down and found himself chuckling too. "Okay okay I get it."

"Now are we ready to go?" Riku asked the pair, grabbing his book and tucking it into his backpack. "The library is closing early today so the drama club can get ready for the festival."

Kairi grabbed her tote while Sora stuffed his pencils, pens and journals into his backpack. "Oh man! I almost forgot about the festival!"

Sora threw his backpack over one shoulder and grinned. "Jeez, Kairi, some class rep you turned out to be! You're supposed to know all this stuff!"

The redhead led the way and opened the sliding door. "I've been swamped with schoolwork and planning," she admitted. "Selphie has been helping me out a lot even though she's super involved with the dance class but it seems like I don't have enough hands."

All the students at Destiny High Academy were busy preparing for the yearly Festival of Light, a celebration of youth and the folk tales surrounding the Destiny Islands. Every year the students at Destiny High Academy would put on a huge festival with booths, plays, performances, art walks, games and other activities centered around the various legends of the island. This year was the one-hundred fiftieth anniversary of the festival so the students took care to make sure that it was the biggest celebration yet.

Kairi shifted her books in her arms, the ones she needed to return sitting on top of the pile. Sora looked over her shoulder and read the titles.

"Are those the ones you used to do research on our classes project?" He asked curiously.

She nodded enthusiastically. "Yup! I found as many books as I could about the legends of spell casters. There's even a few stories about the magic of the paopu fruit."

Riku snickered behind the pair and elbowed Sora in his ribs. "Well would you look at that! Maybe Sora can take a few hints from that story and give a piece to a certain someone."

Sora's face exploded red and he threw his backpack at Riku's head, almost hitting him if it weren't for Riku being quick on his feet and ducking. "Shut up, Riku!"

Kairi dismissed the two boys and laughed heartily, spotting the library up ahead. She quickened her pace once she spotted a familiar instructor standing at the doorway, waving for that person to keep it open.

Kairi skidded to a stop when she came to the front desk, her breathing heavy. She gave a slight bow and smiled at the young woman standing at the desk with her long brown hair tied into a neat braid with glasses hanging on the bridge of her nose, her bright green eyes shining. "Hi, Professor Aerith! I came to return the books you told me to look at on the island legends."

The young instructor of class 2 – B smiled when she recognized one of her students. She held out her hand and took the books from her student. "Did you enjoy them?"

She nodded fervently as Riku and Sora caught up to her. "I did! I think our class has enough stuff now to use to finish off our assignment for the festival."

Just then a woman who was short in stature with long dark brown hair and wine colored eyes with fair skin approached the group, smiling. "It seems like everyone is getting excited for the festival. I think this year will be the best one yet."

The trio of students bowed before the woman with Riku being the first to do so seeing as she was both his homeroom teacher and history teacher.

"Hi, Ms. Lockhart!" Sora greeted cheerfully.

"Hello, Sora," she replied with a small smile. "Are all of you getting ready for the festival?"

Kairi nodded. "You bet! Our class is almost done with our project. I just wanted to do a little more research before we finished everything off."

Ms. Lockhart smiled in approval. "Aerith," she said to her colleague. "You've got a great group of kids this year."

Aerith agreed. "As do you, Tifa." She turned her attention to Riku. "Have you been actively working with your class, Riku? What was your assignment again?"

"Dark fairytales," Riku answered matter-of-factly.

Aerith placed a hand on Tifa's shoulder. "You _would _be the one to pick the scary stories," she joked. "Aren't you all doing the haunted house?"

"That's right," Tifa replied.

"I thought that the Festival of Light was supposed to be…" Sora trailed off as if he were deep in thought. "You know, happy and junk? We've never done any haunted houses save for this year."

Tifa nodded, pushing her long hair over one shoulder. "That is correct, Sora. Usually the festival is all about children, innocence and stories about magic. But what most people fail to realize is that there are a lot of dark legends that accompany the lighter ones. I thought that it would be a good idea if we changed it up a bit and talked about that aspect of the festival. Riku would know. Him and his classmates have been working on the haunted house and children's story booth for a couple of weeks now. He should be an expert at this."

The silver-haired teen smiled politely but shrugged his shoulders. "I wouldn't say that…"

Sora jumped in, saying, "Riku's not one for a bunch of fairytales or ghosts or anything like that. He's too _logical _for that kind of stuff."

Aerith grinned. "You don't believe in that kind of stuff, even a little?"

Riku stuffed his hands in the pockets of his uniform slacks. "To be honest not really. I mean, fairytales are cool when you're younger but I like to see my proof before I go off believing in something."

"You're so boring," Sora teased. "All you care about is school, blitzball and whatever girl you're talking to at the time. Lighten up!"

Riku fired back, "Oh yeah? Well you're almost seventeen and you still believe in Santa."

Aerith and Tifa laughed while Kairi face-palmed herself, unable to believe her best friends.

"You two are incredible," Kairi sighed.

When Aerith had silenced herself, she reached into her pocket and handed a slip of yellow paper to Kairi. The redhead looked up as if to ask "what is this?" and unfolded the paper, reading what appeared to be an address written down in her professor's elegant handwriting.

"In case you were wanting to do some more research," Aerith started, "even though you probably don't need to…" she set Kairi's books down on the front desk and asked for the student attendant to return the books for her, "…but there's a bookstore that just opened up in the shopping district. They carry a lot of books on urban legends and they even have a lot of trinkets and other cool stuff you might find for the festival. You guys might want to check it out."

Kairi and Sora's bright blue eyes lit up. "Thank you, Professor Aerith!" They said simultaneously.

"Not a problem," she replied. "Now Tifa and I have some festival business to discuss. We'll see you all bright and early tomorrow."

The three bid goodbye to their instructors and headed for the exit.

"Oh and Sora!" Aerith called, waving her hand.

The spiky-haired teen turned around. "Yeah?"

"And try not to fall asleep during lecture tomorrow," she told him, adding a gentle yet stern tone to her voice. "We'll be having a quiz on what we learned this week so you'd best stay awake."

Embarrassed royally for the second time today, Sora sheepishly apologized and promised to be alert for the next lecture, following after Riku and Kairi who had already left the library.

Once the trio were gone, Aerith turned her attention to Tifa. "They're good kids. We got a good batch this year, didn't we?"

Tifa agreed. "I'd say so. Good thing too. The festival this year is going to have a few surprises in store for them all other than the traditional carnival games and rides. Wouldn't you agree?"

Aerith shared an all-knowing smile with her associate and nodded her head. "I couldn't have said it better myself."

* * *

**Author's Note:** Hello all! I hope that you guys are having an amazing day. I've been hard at work for a while now on Sins and an Absolution (which is almost at its end). Fortunately, summer vacation is coming for me and so I figured I'd start early by releasing two new chapters of my brand new story.

I looked back on an old poll I did a while ago and realized "Crap, I don't have a fantasy story up" - which was/is one of my first loves next to horror. In addition to that, I need a side project next to Sins that is different enough to keep me on my toes with this stuff. Not that Sins is on a hiatus, it's just that I need to put my mind somewhere else. Believe it or not, writing something that modern and dark...well...it can be a bit hard on the mind, you know? Especially with what I have planned next.

So this is my other project. I won't tell you guys what to expect until the next chapter but I do hope that you all enjoy it. Please let me know what you guys think in a review!

Take care all!


	2. Chapter 2

Sora, Riku and Kairi left the school that afternoon with high spirits, bounding down the steps that led up to the prestigious academy.

Kairi and the group paused when they reached the bottom as if waiting to figure out what to do. Kairi looked over her shoulder as she unfolded the yellow paper Aerith had given her. "Trinity Magic Shop," she read out loud. "Do you guys want to go check it out?" The redhead glanced at her cell phone and checked the time. It was only a little after four. "It says the shop closes after six and it's on our way home."

"Magic shop, huh?" Riku was immediately skeptical.

Sora elbowed Riku in his gut. "Don't be such a sourpuss!"

"A sour puss? Really? That's what you came up with?"

Kairi interrupted the two before they started bickering and grabbed both boys by their wrists, tugging them down the street in the direction of the shop. "Let's save the fighting for later, huh? We've got more research to do."

"Riku's being so close-minded!" Sora groaned, his cheeks slightly red from Kairi's touch.

"It's just a bookstore, Riku," Kairi then turned her attention to the older teen as she pulled them through the crosswalk when the light was green, taking them into the city's shopping district. "It's a name."

Riku rolled his expressive, oceanic blue eyes and sighed. "Fine, fine."

"Besides, you might see something in there you may like," she added, now letting both boys walk on their own with her in between the both of them. "You like to read, right?"

Riku shrugged his shoulders and took the paper from Kairi. He studied Professor Aerith's handwriting and furrowed his brows. "I think I know where this place is."

"You do?" Sora asked curiously.

Riku nodded and handed the paper back to Kairi, folding it before doing so. "It's in that empty building between the coffee shop and print shop."

"That one?" Sora asked incredulously. "But that building's been closed forever! Isn't that the old theater where that huge fire broke out?"

"Yup," Riku confirmed. "That's the one. It's amazing that someone would actually want to take over that space. It's been deserted for more than a hundred years."

Kairi looked to both boys from answers. "What? What theater?"

"Oh yeah," Sora drew out. "You haven't lived on the island as long as Riku and I. You probably wouldn't have heard of that legend."

"I've been here since I was five," Kairi argued, raising an eyebrow. "I should know about it."

Sora shrugged his shoulders. "It was one of those ghost stories you hear when you're a kid on the island. Maybe you never heard about it because your family is from Radiant Garden."

Kairi thought over it. "Yeah, you're probably right."

Sora cleared his throat (loudly) and then began the story. "A long time ago there was a theater on the island. Somehow, a demon who looked like a human, locked all the doors shut and set the theater on fire, killing everyone and himself inside. To this day, the theater is supposed to be cursed and haunted by the people trapped inside. A hundred years ago someone tried to rebuild it but most of the construction crew died in the process. I guess everyone else just decided to leave it alone."

Kairi shuddered. "That's insane. Someone actually killed everyone inside? Why?"

Riku sighed, seeing that the theater was now in sight. "No one knows really. All the people who were there died in the fire. I'm surprised that anyone actually wanted to open a shop on that land. I'm even more shocked that it got built up that fast. The paper said that it opened up two weeks ago. I wonder how they built up that shop so quickly without any attention drawn to it."

"See!" Sora half shouted, grinning from ear to ear. "We've got ourselves an urban legend and we're part of it."

Kairi giggled while Riku rolled his eyes, eventually smiling himself as the trio came to the front of the shop. "You're way too excited about a bookstore," he said.

The three found themselves standing in front of Trinity Bookstore. On the outside it looked just like any other shop in town. The face of the store was red with huge windows showcasing various books, trinkets, and even dolls. Given the fact that this bookstore now stood in place of the theater, the group reasoned that it was probably larger than what the outside alluded to. As they stood there and peered up at the bookstore, a harsh wind whipped through the air and pushed them towards the shop, causing them all to shiver.

"It doesn't_ look_ haunted," Sora pointed out.

"That's because it isn't," Riku stated plainly. "It's just an old building that got a huge makeover that now sits on an urban legend site. Pretty smart move if you ask me. Although the more superstitious islanders will probably steer clear of it…" he trailed off.

Kairi was the first to head for the door. "Well we won't find anything standing out here. Come on."

Sora ran ahead of Kairi and held the door open for both her and Riku, entering once they were inside. Upon stepping into the bookstore, the three teens' jaws dropped in awe, even Riku's. The store (as to be expected, was enormous. It was large and spacious, taking on a rich red and gold theme. The store was neat and orderly with rows upon rows of bookcases filled with various books ranging from science and history texts, to romance novels, all the way to stories of urban legends and folktales. On the back wall from the floor to ceiling was a section full of books on fantasy novels, most of them the teens had never seen or heard of before. On the right side of the store near a large section of trinkets and dolls was a stairway leading downward. Overall, the store was a sight to see and even Riku was impressed.

"This place is so cool!" Kairi gasped, running to the far back wall and reaching for the first book she could get her hand on. She skimmed through the pages, her eyes wide with wonder.

Sora heard chimes in the distance and yawned. "This place is nice, but it's so quiet. I might end up falling asleep on one of the couches."

"You'd fall asleep in the middle of the street if you weren't afraid of getting hit by cars," Riku teased as he glanced at the science textbooks.

Sora pouted. "Really? I'm not that lazy. But I wonder," he turned around in a complete circle. "Where are all the workers?" He asked Riku.

"Can I help you with something?" A faint, almost angelic voice asked curiously.

Sora nearly jumped out of his skin when he heard the voice. He turned around and saw a pretty, pale blonde girl with innocent blue eyes wearing a long, white, short-sleeved white dress with a maroon apron on top and tan flip flops. She offered the group a small smile and held her hands together.

"Uh, yeah!" Sora tried to quickly recover from the scare. He had _just_ turned around. How could the girl have sneaked up on him so quickly without him noticing? "This is my friend Riku, and the redhead is Kairi," he pointed to the girl reaching for a third book. "And I'm Sora." Kairi spotted the blonde girl and put the books back into their respective spots before joining Riku and Sora.

The blonde bowed. "My name is Naminé. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same! It's nice to see someone," Sora admitted. "I didn't see any salespeople walking around…"

Naminé lifted her head. "Right now it's only me and Roxas. Our boss is out right now. She won't be back until late."

"Did you say something Naminé?" A young boy asked, appearing from behind one of the massive glass doll cases.

Naminé waved her hand and ushered Roxas over to the pair. Like Naminé, the one named Roxas was blonde with spiky hair (although not as wild as Sora's) with bright royal blue eyes. He wore a white dress shirt, black slacks, sneakers, a dark tie and maroon apron over his clothing, the same as Naminé's. However, once Roxas got closer to the group, his focus shifted to Sora and his eyes narrowed slightly. Still, he remained polite as he stood near Naminé and offered the group a smile.

"We have guests," she told him.

Roxas nodded and turned to the group. "Are you guys looking for anything in particular?"

"One of our teachers sent us here. You see, we go to Destiny High Academy, and we're putting on some booths for the Festival of Light. She told us that we could come here to look up some information on urban legends surrounding the island," Kairi informed them. "I'm Kairi, this is Sora and Riku," she pointed out each boy to Roxas. "Pleased to meet you."

Roxas and Naminé exchanged glances, almost as if they were in on a secret. "It's nice to meet you too," he said to Kairi.

"We're here to find books on urban legends of the Destiny Islands, specifically ones that aren't well known," Sora told him.

Naminé tapped Roxas' shoulder. "Don't we have a few books on the Destiny Islands?"

"Yeah but they're not for sale," Roxas told her. "Remember? Those are in the restricted section."

"I can bring them right back!" Kairi piped up, her curiosity now fully peaked. "I promise!"

"Or they can read in the lounge," Naminé offered, still looking to Roxas. "You need approval from the boss on which books you can take out with you."

Riku arched an eyebrow in suspicion. "We have to get _approval_ from your boss to take home certain books and bring them back?"

Naminé nodded and smiled apologetically. "Unfortunately yes," she answered. "You see…" she trailed off, trying to find the words. "Some of our books are especially precious to the boss and they're over a hundred years old. She's spent a long time collecting them so as you can imagine we're very careful about what we lend out."

"Makes sense to me." Sora yawned and placed his hands behind his head.

Riku however was still a bit unsettled. He quickly glanced at Roxas and then at Naminé. There was something slightly off about the two blonds standing in front of them but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It was something about the aura surrounding them that had Riku slightly on edge. Still, they appeared to be just a couple of teenagers around the same age as them working in a bookstore. It seemed normal enough but…

"We can stay for a bit," Kairi told Roxas and Naminé. "I just want to check them out. Maybe I'll come back tomorrow and read them closer in the lounge."

"I'll come back tomorrow too." Sora grinned. "This looks like a chill place. What about you, Riku?"

After taking a few seconds to look around the shop, Riku shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly. "I don't see why not."

"Perfect!" Naminé clasped her hands together. "How about you guys just come tomorrow and we can pull the books for you tonight? That way we can have them ready and I can even make some snacks for you all. Does that sound good?"

"Did you say snacks?" Sora's eyes widened.

Naminé nodded. "Of course! And if you come around this time tomorrow our boss will be here."

"Sounds like a plan to me. I guess we'll see you both tomorrow!"

The trio made their way to the exit while Roxas and Naminé saw them out. Roxas held the door open for the group while Naminé waved from the entrance.

"It was nice to meet you," she said sweetly.

"You too!" Kairi called, waving until Roxas closed the door behind them.

Once Sora, Riku, and Kairi were a fair distance from the shop and on their way towards their homes did they speak about the "mysterious" bookstore.

"See? Now you guys can say that you were in a once-haunted theater," Kairi teased.

"It didn't seem haunted to me," Sora sighed sadly. "Although the girl did creep me out a little."

"You were just zoning out," Kairi shook her head in disappointment. "They're harmless."

"They seemed weird to me," Riku muttered under his breath. Still, Kairi was able to hear him and asked why he felt that way. "I don't know," he replied, "it's just a feeling."

The group rounded the corner through the back end of the shopping district near a bunch of older buildings.

"Riku's superstitious?" Sora laughed. "Oh man that's a first. Since when do you get creeped out by blonde girls? Do you usually just _date_ blonde girls?"

Riku was still a bit unnerved. "If you ask me there was something – "

Riku was cut off sharply when something – or someone – came crashing into the concrete sidewalk from above and landed with a _thud_ in front of the group causing Kairi to scream, Sora to fall back on his rear end while Riku stepped back in horror. Now blocking the sidewalk in front of them was a young girl around their age, wearing the Destiny Academy uniform with a pool of blood forming underneath her on the cracked concrete, her limbs contorted beyond belief.

Sora's eyes widened and his lips trembled, unable to believe what had just happened. He looked up from where the girl came from and realized that they were near an older, four-story apartment building. Judging from the way the girl's body was twisted and mangled, she must have thrown herself from the top. Even worse, upon further inspection, the girl was bleeding profusely from where her heart was, her bright red eyes blank and her lavender/silver hair now stained with her own blood.

"I-Is that F-Fuu?" Kairi stammered, trying her best to hold back her sobs.

Riku nodded in a jerky fashion and was in a state of shock greatly resembling Sora's. "I think that's her…"

Several other people in the area saw the scene, and immediately someone called 911 while others looked on in horror, slowly approaching the scene.

"How could this have happened? I just saw her today in class." Sora whispered, scooting back from his now deceased classmate.

As if on instinct, Riku looked to his right near an alley and, out of the corner of his eye, spotted a dark figure he could not identify who hid behind a massive black umbrella. The person appeared to be looking at the scene from a distance and immediately turned on its heel and walked away a few seconds later, disappearing down the alley.

Riku had a right mind to follow after the individual but once he heard the police sirens his mind went elsewhere. He and Sora went to console Kairi while they waited for the ambulance to arrive, each one of them wondering how in the world this could have happened.

* * *

**Author's Note**: Well how's that for an ending?

I hope you guys liked what little bit I've got out now. It's my first fantasy piece in...years. I should be updating this one more frequently as the chapters will be shorter. I can't tell you how long it will be but I do believe that it'll be shorter than "Heartbreakers". Also, as a warning, I may have to bump up the rating later on. I don't know, we'll see in a few chapters.

In any case, let me end it right here. Please let me know what you guys think. Any predictions? If you can't already tell I'm super excited and hope that you all enjoy this story too. Leave me a review and I'll get to chapter three as soon as I can. I have finals this week so in between study breaks I'm sure I'll be able to get something down.

Take care everyone!


	3. Chapter 3

Sora and the rest of their classmates sat in stunned silence as their homeroom teachers and all the professors of class 2-B spoke of the passing of their classmate Fuu. Some shed a few tears in their seats while others sat in shock as they listened on to the story.

Professor Aerith, who appeared very much unlike herself with a somber expression on her face, spoke next. "The family will be hosting a memorial service for their daughter on Friday. I'll have more information for you all tomorrow on the location. It would mean a great deal to the family for you to pay your final respects."

With that the other professors left the room and the homeroom teacher allowed the students a few extra minutes to collect their thoughts before continuing on with the school day.

Sora glanced at Kairi, who was holding up much better than she had been yesterday after they witnessed Fuu's death. Kairi turned her attention to Sora and their eyes met, each of them thinking the same thing.

"_How could this have happened?"_

The fact that Fuu had died was shocking enough but it was the manner in which she passed that nearly traumatized Sora, Riku, and Kairi. A well-known classmate had plummeted from a building and landed in front of them, painting the sidewalk red before their very eyes.

Sora shivered. That would be something he wouldn't soon forget.

"I spoke to Fuu's parents," Kairi told him, wiping away her remaining tears.

Sora's heart sank. "How are they?"

The redhead sighed heavily. "They're trying to hold it together but they're still in shock – I think we all are."

Sora rubbed his temples. Not long after they left Trinity Magic Shop and had witnessed Fuu's death, they had to wait with the police to give a report on what happened. Of course it took longer than expected and when the trio finally returned to their homes it was already dark outside.

"The school is allowing us time at the end of the day to see a counselor and talk about how we feel about the incident," Sora stated absently. "Do you want to go?"

Kairi hung her head low, and set her hands on her desk. "No. My parents and I had a long talk about the incident last night. Besides, we have to go back to the shop and do more research."

Sora had almost forgotten about their plans to revisit the magic shop. But with all that had transpired it was easy to understand why. "Yeah, you're right. Besides, we can always go to the service."

"Yeah," Kairi said distantly, looking out of the window near her to see unusually grey skies hanging over them. "That sounds like a plan."

* * *

Kairi stood at the front of the school with an umbrella in hand as she waited for Sora and Riku. She frowned, noting that the weather was not helping with the overall mood of the day recent events.

Sora and Riku soon appeared with their backpacks and met up with Kairi.

Riku, who had been the one to remain his composure the best, glanced up at the sky. "Well if this isn't setting a tone…" he trailed off.

"Don't remind me," Kairi said to Riku as she opened her large blue umbrella for all three of them to stand under. "All I wanna do I crawl into bed and watch tv. But we do have to get ready for the festival."

While Sora and Kairi chatted amongst themselves about what they needed to do for the class, Riku's thoughts drifted elsewhere. Riku didn't tell anyone about the figure he saw at the time. Part of this was because he thought that he was seeing things (and that was very possible given the fact that he had just witnessed one of his peers fall to their death). But the other part of the reason why he didn't share what he saw was because what he believed he saw unnerved him. Riku couldn't make out any distinct features of it and the figure was gone before he had a chance to look closer. If it was really there at all…

The trio had arrived at the shop and Kairi knocked gently on the door, closing the umbrella once they were under an awning. A few seconds later Naminé appeared with a warm smile on her face and welcomed the group, taking the umbrella and setting it by the door as she ushered them in.

"It's good to see you all," Naminé said gently, stuffing her hands into her apron pocket. "I almost thought you wouldn't come with the weather being so crummy."

Kairi smiled apologetically. "Yeah. The rain came out of nowhere and I thought about staying home. But here we are!"

"I'm glad," Naminé then called over her shoulder saying, "Roxas! They're back!" Hearing a slight grumble from the back of the store and taking it as a sign that Roxas heard them, Naminé led the trio through the store and to the back where Roxas was setting down several heavy boxes of books.

"Are you almost finished with the shipment?" Naminé asked curiously.

Roxas stood up and cracked his back loudly, causing the three young students to cringe. "Yeah I'm done for now. The boss ordered all these books and trinkets for the shop that she found."

Sora's eyes lit up. "Are we going to meet your boss? Is she in?"

Naminé and Roxas stole a glance at one another almost as if asking "can they?" simultaneously. However it was Roxas who answered the question. "She's down in the basement at the moment. I'm sure she'll come up if she finishes her business."

Riku looked over Naminé's shoulder at the large descending staircase leading down to darkness. "And the lounge is _where_?"

"Down there," Naminé nodded her head in the direction of the stairs.

Kairi and Sora glanced at one another, immediately feeling a chill overcome them. Watching the three teens hesitate, Naminé attempted to calm their nerves.

"I'm sure you guys know that story of the theatre tragedy," she began, watching them nod their heads all at once. "Well, rest assured that we've totally restored the lower levels of the theatre. Trust me," she laughed, "you won't find any ghosts down there."

Even though Naminé tried to ease everyone's nerves, each of the teens held onto a slight ounce of uneasiness for different reasons. Still, they didn't want to let one another know what they were feeling so they put on their best smiles and followed Naminé and Roxas down the stairs to the first floor of the basement level.

"If you don't mind me asking, why would you guys decide to open up a shop here?" Kairi asked, surprised at how dark it was leading to the first basement level. The entire corridor was pitch-black save for the candles that lit their way, making the area a bit suffocating and eerie. Kairi secretly hoped that the lounge wouldn't be nearly as creepy as this place was.

Naminé looked over her shoulder and replied, "Well, we're no stranger to the Destiny Islands. Plus our boss has a lot of connections here. I know it may sound strange, setting up shop on supposed haunted ground, but our boss was fond of the idea. She said it gives the shop a bit of "edge" or something like that."

Sora grimaced and whispered to Riku, "This boss is probably some creeper. I betcha she's some weird old hag lady."

"I heard that!" Roxas called sharply, causing Sora to jump.

Naminé laughed and reached into her apron pocket, pulling out a set of gold keys on a silver ring. She slipped the key into the lock and pushed open the door slowly, light spilling into the otherwise dark hallway.

Sora, Riku, and Kairi all filed into the room one by one and their jaws dropped. The lounge was just as big, if not bigger, than the ground level of the bookstore. The walls were painted a rich royal purple with elegant gold-colored furniture everywhere. On the wall in front of them was a large, floor-to-ceiling flat screen television with hundreds of movies sitting inside of bookcases framing it. On the side walls were, of course, other bookcases but there were fewer books in total and they all seemed to be without any covers with simple, gold bookends holding them up. In the center of the room was a large gold, oak coffee table with large, plush, comfortable sofas surrounding it with an abundance of matching cushions and throw pillows. The lounge was a book-lover's fantasy come true.

Sora looked closer and saw that the table was full of cakes, cookies, and breads, causing his mouth to water almost instantly.

Naminé noticing the look on Sora's face, invited them to take a seat and get comfortable.

"Go ahead. The boss and I were busy baking all morning," Naminé told them, watching as the group sat down.

Roxas snorted to himself and smirked. "Yeah…all morning…"

Naminé rolled her eyes and jabbed Roxas in his side, silencing the other blond immediately.

Riku sat opposite of Sora and Kairi, taking note of how comfortable and relaxing the area was in spite of the earlier feeling of unrest he got when he was in the hallway. Riku wondered if he was letting his mind play tricks on him by making him believe that there was something wrong with the stop and tried to shake the thoughts away. However, Riku still was uneasy about Roxas and Naminé even though they seemed to be as normal as they come.

"Where are the books?" Kairi asked as she watched Naminé pour them all freshly brewed tea.

The blonde looked up as she poured Sora's cup. "Oh! I have them. Give me a second. Roxas," she called to her coworker, "can you mind the shop?"

Roxas nodded and without a word headed for the stairs, closing the door tightly behind him.

A heavy silence filled the room when Roxas left. Kairi watched Naminé head to one of the shelves and pick out three heavy books, bringing them to the table.

"Are you guys in school?" Kairi asked innocently as she watched Sora tear through a piece of lemon cake.

Naminé shook her head. "Not right now. We've been so absorbed in the shop that we haven't really thought about it."

"How can you guys _not_ be in school?" Riku asked curiously, hesitating to take a sip of his tea.

"Not all kids our age are in school, Riku," Kairi reminded him as she began leafing through the first book. "They need special permits if they're helping out with a business and usually they get a pass. Right, Naminé?"

The blonde smiled and nodded. "That sums up our situation. We do study though – enough to keep up with people in our grade – but we've been busy working on the shop. We want to get it up and running before we even think about going to school."

Still, Riku was not fully convinced. "I see…" He trailed off.

Sora yawned, now full from all the dessert he had just devoured and relaxed against the couch. "Did you guys hear what happened yesterday?"

For a moment, Naminé's soft blue eyes hardened and she took a seat next to Kairi. "Yeah. I heard about it yesterday night," she said sadly. "That girl…she was so young. Did you guys know her personally?"

Kairi paused from her reading, the memory of Fuu's lifeless body forcing itself to the forefront of her thoughts. "Uh huh," she answered in a monotone voice. "She was in our class…and we were the ones to see her die."

This time, Naminé did not react. Instead she listened closely and intently. "That's so unfortunate," she said, almost sounding as if she were thinking out loud. "No one should have to go through that."

Before Naminé could say anything more, Roxas returned to the lounge. However, when he returned, he came with a gold rectangular box that was held shut by a lock. He approached the group and made a slight nod to Naminé before setting the box on the table in front of the group.

"What's that?" Sora asked curiously.

"I almost forgot. Our boss wanted me to give you guys these," he said with a smile, reaching into his apron for a heavy gold key. "Since you all are our first patrons, she wanted you to have them as gifts."

Kairi and Sora leaned forward as Roxas opened the box. Even Riku found himself slightly interested in what the box held.

Roxas opened the lid and there inside lay three gold chains with key shaped pendants attached to each of them.

"Oh my gosh," Kairi gasped, admiring the key in the middle. "They're so pretty!"

Sora reached forward and took the first key, holding it up to the light. "It's so cool!" From the moment Sora touched the key, he instantly felt an attachment to it. "Are you sure we can have them?"

Naminé smiled. "Yes of course. It's our way of saying "thanks"."

Riku hesitated before picking up his key but even he had to admit that they were nice. He reached forward and took his, putting it around his neck. "What exactly do these things unlock?" He asked Naminé.

"Nothing, really. They're just good luck charms. Legend has it that they're a symbol of protection," Naminé explained.

"This shop is so cool!" Sora exclaimed. "Here I was thinking it was going to be some boring old bookstore!"

Roxas folded his arms over his chest. "Well, the boss will be glad to know that you guys like them. Those keys are extremely rare and valuable."

Kairi set the key inside her breast pocket and looked to Roxas. "And she's giving them to us? Just like that?"

"Just like that," Roxas answered. "She appreciates your business and hopes that you guys will be back again."

"Speaking of which…" Riku glanced around the room. "Where is your boss?"

"Oh yeah!" Sora jumped in. "I thought you said that she would be here."

"I wanted to thank her for the gift and letting us use her books," Kairi shut the first one and pushed it aside, starting on the second one.

"She's still down in the lower levels taking care of business," Roxas announced, watching everyone's face take on disappointment. "She wanted to express her deepest apologies."

Sora threw his arms over his head and smiled. "Nah no big deal. She's probably super busy. After all, it's just you three who run the shop, right?"

Roxas nodded. "That's right."

"But the next time you all should come, we'll try and make sure that the boss can sit with us. I'm sure she'd love to meet all of you," Naminé added. "That is…if you want to come."

Sora and Kairi looked at each other simultaneously and grinned. "You can count on it!" They said simultaneously.

Riku managed a nod before he patted his chest where the key rested against his heart. Everything seemed normal enough but for some reason, in the back of his mind, Riku felt strangely uneasy. While Roxas and Naminé played the part as host and hostess, he still couldn't shake the feeling that they were hiding something. In addition to that, he wanted to know who this mysterious shopkeeper was.

He sighed heavily and closed his eyes. Looks like he would have to come back another day.

* * *

Naminé and Roxas stood at a giant red door. The petite blonde knocked gently and stepped back, watching as the door swung open.

The pair walked into, what appeared to be a study that was in a rich crimson and gold theme that was dimly lit.

"They left a little over an hour ago," Naminé said into the darkness, walking to the back where a large lounge chair was. Despite the poor lighting, she easily made out the figure lying on it.

"Oh?" The voice belonged to a female. "And did they take the trinkets I gave them?"

Roxas smiled. "They put them on as soon as I told them they were theirs."

The female reached out to the table, her tanned skin showing from underneath her long, wide sleeves, and grabbed the candle out in front of her, setting it on the nightstand near her. The girl looked to be about the same age as Naminé and Roxas. She was clearly taller than the average woman, had long ebony hair that reached her elbows and bright, vivid hazel/gold eyes. On her head she adjusted her black flower headdress and removed her glasses from her face.

"Why didn't you come up to meet them, Jasmine?" Naminé asked. "They were excited to meet you."

The girl looked up and rubbed her eyes, being oh-so careful to not disturb her black eyeliner. "I got caught up with something down in the basement," she explained.

Roxas' eyes narrowed. "Is it…?"

"Yes. But I contained it," she reassured him. "I must admit, this old theatre has a lot going on. And this town…" She sighed and sat up straight.

"It's funny how things have really changed," Naminé thought out loud. "Who would've thought that we would be back here so soon?"

Jasmine frowned, her eyes hardening. "Who would have thought we'd be here at all?" She crossed one leg over another. "But it is what it is and regardless we have to keep moving forward."

"I invited the group back at the end of the week. Do you think they'll come?" Naminé asked Roxas and Jasmine.

The ebony-haired girl smiled mischievously, her eyes practically dancing in the dim light from the candle. "Of course they will," she replied confidently. "You and Roxas did a good job keeping their interest. It's a shop built on haunted ground with two mysterious teenagers and an unknown shopkeeper. They'll be back for sure. Probably before the end of the week. After all, who doesn't love a good mystery?"

* * *

**Author's Note**: Well I hope you all are doing well and enjoyed the new chapter. I realize that I ended chapter two in a very…unpredictable way. As a warning, the story will have some scares. Still, I hope it doesn't deter you from reading further.

**Queen Micky**: Sorry for the mild jump scare lol. Thanks for the review!

**thelonesomeartist**: I'm glad that you like the story so far. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

**Sookdeo**: No. This story is not going to be Alice in Wonderland-ish…well at least not now. Then again who knows where my mind goes when I write. I can't promise too much like that anymore lol. As for the name it's too early for me to give you an answer about the shop name. Due to the nature of this story one spoiler might give away a huge part of the story away. I hope the story keeps your attention though!

**hopefuldreamer1991**: I'm happy that you're excited about where this story is going. I hope I don't disappoint you!

Alright guys well I hope to get the new chapter up soon. Also I really want to know what you guys are thinking so far in terms of the story. Leave a review and I hope to have an update for you soon. Thanks guys and take care!


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